Automic Workload Automation

Am I the only one who is baffled by the way the new adaptive estimated run time feature was implemented in the AE Java User Interface? Starting with AE V11, one must specify, for each and every object variable, whether and how that variable should be used for adaptive ERT calculations. I find this implementation totally perplexing based on the following  two assumptions:

• The vast majority of executable objects will not use ERT — adaptive or otherwise.
• Among the small number of objects that use adaptive ERT, the vast majority of the objects’ variables will have no bearing on ERT calculations.

Wouldn’t it have been better to implement this the other way around — that is, to have a table on the Runtime tab wherein one can specify the name of one or more object variables that should be used for adaptive ERT calculations, and for each one, how it should be used? This would remove from the Variables & Prompts tab controls and elements that are almost always unneeded and distracting. It would eliminate extra manual steps for the creation of most object variables. And it would put controls for specifying the ERT-relevant variables on the Runtime tab, together with other controls related to ERT. I submitted this enhancement request to ideas.automic.com as PMPER-1124.

Reading through the doc, I'm a bit puzzled on how exactly the adaptive ERT is different than the other forms of ERT (average).  Can anyone explain this in simple terms?  

LauraAlbrecht608310: I have never used this feature. I looked in the documentation and found very little helpful information. The documentation page on Adaptive evaluation gives scant detail on how it works. The page on Variables & Prompts describes the different ways in which an object variable may be used for adaptive ERT:

You can define the object variables as external factors for the adaptive ERT calculation. Select the relevant data type for the variable's value from the following items:

• Nominal(= character string)
• Numeric
• Timestamp
• Date
• Time
• No ERT Usage(= do not use object variable for adaptive ERT)

This variable will then be taken into account in the adaptive ERT calculation process.

I found no detailed description of what each of these options actually means, what form it should take, or how it affects ERT calculation. The documentation contains no examples.

My guess is that it works something like this: The first five items in the list above are weighting factors, used in calculating the estimated run time. They are normally picked up from the statistics of the run of the task. If one wishes to override the values of any of these weighting factors, one can do so by specifying that a particular object variable’s value should be used for this a particular weighting factor, instead of the actual data from the run of the task.

Thanks

Michael A. Lowry

.  This sounds like way more complex calculation for ERT than I need.  Obviously someone did or the functionality wouldn't exist, but at this point - no need for us.  I appreciate your comments.